Not so Much With the Knitting

I’ve apparently cracked a tooth or some equally odious dental event has taken place. The bottom line is that I’ve got pain bad enough to make it impossible for me to concentrate on anything, so the knitting has been set aside for now.

I’ve got all the non-prescription remedies (clove oil, benzocaine, various alcoholic substances on a cotton ball, etc.) and they all provide a bit of temporary relief, but until I visit my dentist first thing tomorrow morning, I’ll be lying on the couch staring at the tv and not knitting.

Pre-root canal, my dentist recommended an ibuprofen (200 mg) an hour. Total dosage isn’t any higher than prescription, but you kind of get this burst with each dose. Worked pretty well. Hope you’re feeling a lot better soon.

I’m so sorry to see that you’re not feeling well and it must be pretty bad to keep you from knitting. Wish I could help out, but being this far away, there’s not much to do except tell you I hope the dentist appointment tomorrow makes it all better.

Ouch! You have my sympathies. I had a tooth surgically extracted a week ago Thursday & am just beginning to feel more or less normal. What made me really angry was that I had told my former dentist three or four years ago that I had a cavity in that tooth along the gum line & he acted like I was crazy. By the time I wised up & switched dentists, it was too far gone to save. Another tooth (which the same dentist had apparently done a very bad job of capping) broke & had to be taken care of first. And then the tooth which ended up being pulled began to throb. My dentist doesn’t do extractions & the oral surgeon she recommends couldn’t see me for over a week. She suggested that I see if I could find one in my area who could see me sooner & I ended up using the one who removed SO’s wisdom tooth. But those 2 days in between when I made the appointment & when I had the surgery were very scary. The tooth throbbed & the whole side of my face ached. But I was able to keep the pain from tipping over into excruciating beyond the power of anything other than anesthesia to dull. But I really couldn’t function other than to sit in a recliner & watch TV or read very light stuff. Certainly couldn’t concentrate well enough to knit – even mindless knitting was beyond me. Fortunately the oral surgeon I went to was very kind & concerned about ensuring adequate anesthesia & subsequent pain relief.

Sorry about your pain – here in Germany you can go to the emergency service also on sundays and holidays, every weekend at least one dentist is in service for 24hrs, with no extra-charge = all paid by the insurance.
Maybe we have to drive up to 30 miles if in a rural area and have to wait for one or two hours but nobody has to wait for relief the whole weekend.until Monday…
Poor Wendy!

Large heaps of sympathy on you! I found that a cold cloth (wet) held to the face helps tremendously. It numbs the same nerve the dentist would put Novacaine in. Be careful about the Motrin if you want surgery in that mouth tomorrow–you’ll bleed too much. Interesting story from Germany’s socialized medicine, eh?

Thanks for the kitty in a box pic. Made me smile big! PS-If I ever do a blog, it will be “The Knitting Nurse” or some cute play on the fact that my profession and my hobby both involve needles. Feel better.

Thirty years ago I was in D.C. between assignments and needed dental help FAST. I found an emergency dentist in Arlington somewhere on Columbia Pike. Surely there are still such places! Get well fast and have some tequila.

I’m so sorry, I do hope you feel better soon. Having had all four wisdom teeth removed this time last year at an age not normally recommended for having wisdom teeth removed, I totally understand how you are feeling right now.
The knitting will be there to cheer you up after the dentist.

My Sunrise yarn arrived yesterday – it is beautiful and interesting. Some grey sneaked in that I wasn’t expecting and a bit of a silver-ish cast overall. Very rich color indeed! I’m learning about lots of new yarn dyers since finding your site. Just what I needed: more encouragement to buy even more yarn. 😉

Never been friends with a cat of my very own, having been raised by dog-people. But if I could find another Lucy I would snap her up in a New York minute. Beautiful. Siamese?

I, too, am sorry about your dental pain. Having had several broken teeth that did not create pain, I fear this is more complicated. But I hope not.
Chin up 😉
Linda R

Wendy, I’m so sorry to hear about your tooth! I hope the dental visit tomorrow goes quickly and relatively painlessly and they can fix the problem easily. I’ll knit a few extra rows on my Sprucey Lucy socks for you!

Hang in! And good for you for going to the dentist so quickly. I put it off until my cheek swelled up and I looked like a cross between a chipmunk and Renee Zellweiger…..it’s amazing how much you’ll like your dentist when he/she makes the pain go away!

Oh Wendy, I’m so sorry to hear this. Last week I also had a minor ache in my tooth, one that cold potentially get bigger as the days go on, so i do know how it feels. Not much we can do at home with this kind of ache. I pray you get some sleep, or hit that whiskey bottle again.:)

Oh man, that really sucks. 🙁 Weird how tooth pain is so much more intense than other pain. I hope you feel better after your trip to the dentist and can take the rest of the day off. I always feel ripped off if I’m sick on a weekend day,

Sorry you’ve been in pain and hope it is resolved soon. Dental pain is terrible!

I’ve been reading your first book and enjoying it immensely. I am mostly self taught also, and when you shared that in a knitting class you were embarrassed to see everyone else doing a long tail cast on with one hand while you were using both, I think I gasped out loud. At one time, I also thought I was the only one!

I am 56 and having been knitting for well over 40 years. I am in a new knitting group that meets at a local yarn store. Yesterday there were only a few of us there when I talked about that part of the book and my reaction. I was surprised that the women on either side of me both also use two hands to cast on. We all agreed that if it isn’t broken, why try to fix it?

I’m glad that you are seeing the dentist right away. I waited a month or two after I cracked a tooth last year and ended up with a root canal and crown. Hope you are feeling better soon and back to the needles!

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